South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1887-08-26
CAUGHT IN A TRAP.
A DETECTIVES STORY.

y
on the detective force of Cincinnati, two
or three very shrcwd rascals chung up
the town for three or four weeks in a
way which annoyed us not little. They
were chaps known as porch climbers, and
the way they did their business was
simply slick. Porch climbing was then
in lis infancy. A sneak thief might be
ready to take advantage of an open door
or window on the lower story, but as for
shining up" a column to reach a bal
cony, or using light ladder to enter
chamber window, no one had ever tried
it.
The very first job done by the gang
resulted in a haul of $500 worth of lew
elry. Your common thief no sooner has
any plumber in his hand than he hastcns
off to the pawnshop to make raise.
This jewclry was not put up, neither
were the second and third hauls. Then
we knew that we had to deal with ras-
calls who had come well heeled and we're
holding on to their stuff or shipping it
to some other city for sale. The first
three robberies were made at the supper
hour, when all the family were in the
dining room or down stairs. The papers
made such an ado about it as to place
citizens on their guard, and the thieves
changed their hours. 1t was in summer.
and very hot weather, andall upstairs
windows were open for ventilation. They
went into three or four houses through
second story windows i'm the evening or
up to as late as midnight, and cleaned
out jewel cases without being seen or
heard
Perhaps the boldest feat was the sixth
job undertaken. There was small one
story house standing beside an elegant
mansion. The little house was on a
corner. One of the fellows mounted to
the roof, crept along to the larger house,
and then assembled the tin conductor on
the big house to bath room window.
The blinds inside were locked, but he
hung to the sill with one hand until he
could open them with the other. Peo-
pie on the street saw him, and police
man called out to know what he was
doing. The fellow was then sitting in
the window dangling his legs in care
less way, and he replied:
'Jim and do that for exercise every
night"
With that he disappeared into the
bath room, and proceeded to ransack
the various rooms on that floor 1t
seemed that all the family except a
daughter were away to a neighbours, and
the young lady had a beau in the parlor.
The servants were out on a rear vcranda.
and the rooms were thus mt the mercy of
the thief. He took his time in making
his search, and, while he was after
money and jewelry first, he did not de-
spise laces, opera glasses, and valuable
bric-a-brac. lie made up large bundle
OF stuff, took cigar which he found on
mantel, and was putting away in the
coolest manner when he descended the
front stairs. The girl heard him and
came out into the hall and asked:
did you want to sec papa2"
Eyes, my dear" was the ready reply ::
'but he seems to be out. Tell him /
called, will your"
what is the name2'
"Wilcox--Judge Wilcox. I brought
my Egyptian curios over for him TO look
at, but some other night will do as
we'll"
She saw him depart without q thought
of how he entered, and the robbery was.
OF course, discovered later on. The de
tcctives were instructed to let everything
drop to hunt down these slick fellows.
ana there was any amount Of iawing over
our I'll luck. We had every hotel and
boarding house under strict scrutiny.
but We could turn up no suspicious char
actcrs answering TO the description Of
these The man who sat on the sill of
the bath room window was said to have
long black whiskers. The one who
passed for Judge Wilcox had auburn
Burnsidcs, and was an unctuous sort of a
fellow. Five hundred men could have
been found in days hunt to answer
these descriptions For many DAYS the
Post Office was watched, strangers were
logged about, dcpots guarded. and gar
dcns and concert halls looked after. but
we made no arrests At least every
second night there was a fresh robbery.
and every second day the papers had
opportunity to come out with fresh ar
ticlc and bclabor US We were seeming
iy doing all that men could do. and our
position was truly uncomfortable. The
climax came about in the oldest sort of
way. On one Of the fashionable thor.
oughfares lived an old maid-that is. she
was one Of family, being. If remem-
Der right, the mans sister. She was
pretty well off, and always had several
hundred dollars ia bureau drawer in